Sessions to testify on Russian Federation before House Judiciary Committee

"The president speaks his mind he is bold and direct about what he says". "But it was a form of chaos every day from day one".

Conyers then asked Sessions, "In a functioning democracy, is it common for the leader of the country to order the criminal justice system to retaliate against his political opponents?"

DOJ, he added later "will not be infected by politics or bias".

"This department will not unlawfully target people", he said.

Sessions, then a senator from Alabama, led a foreign policy advisory council for the Trump campaign. The then-Alabama senator was the first U.S. senator to back Trump.

Sessions again refused to answer, saying that "under the politics of the Department of Justice, to announce recusal in any investigation would reveal the existence of that investigation". Mr Sessions said the Trump campaign "was a brilliant campaign in many ways". In March, Sessions released a statement recusing himself. His letter, signed by 19 other Republicans, said that Judiciary Committee members were concerned that Mueller might not have a broad enough mandate to investigate other election-related matters, which he said included actions taken by Comey, Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Sessions testified that he now remembers the meeting Papadopoulos, but his memory about conversations is limited. As well, another aide, Carter Page, told Congress in private statements that he had alerted Sessions about a meeting he planned in Russian Federation during the campaign. In his testimony before Congress Tuesday, Sessions tried to account for this apparent discrepancy.

You can see the Jordan-Sessions exchange - lightly edited for clarity and length - below. "That is a lie".

The following describes the crime of perjury and whether it would apply to Sessions' conduct.

"The attorney general of the United States of America should not be held to a different standard than the young police officer whose life you ruined for prosecuting him for perjury", Jeffries said.

"I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied under oath".

Sessions responded, "I did not, and I'm not aware of anyone else that did, and I don't believe it happened". "You're accusing me of lying about it?"

"But, honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats", Mr. Trump said.

The comment by Sessions to a House of Representatives panel did not reveal any new link between the Trump team and Russian Federation but it was another example of the top USA law enforcement official offering a different version of events as lawmakers try to work out if the Trump campaign colluded with Russian Federation in the 2016 election.

Jordan grilled Sessions on various claims that the Obama-era Federal Bureau of Investigation colluded with Democrats to elevate the dossier put together by ex-British spy Christopher Steele that made various Russian-related allegations about President Trump.

The issue was becoming increasingly tense for the White House following the indictment of a top former Trump campaign official and a guilty plea from another foreign policy adviser.

"Like clockwork, just as we learn of damning details of Donald Trump Jr.'s contacts with WikiLeaks, the Trump administration is firing up the fog machine to distract from the Mueller probe", Fallon said.

All are Republicans who have apparently copped to smoking pot.

The research came through an opposition firm, Fusion GPS, that was first paid by a conservative publication and later paid by Democrats. But in this case Franken asked a straightforward question and the response Sessions gave was misleading, Gershman said.